Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Di Semesta Ini Kita Pernah Gemilang by Ocean Vuong

236 reviews

megold12's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.5

I appreciate the lyricism of the writing and how Vuong contrasts it with visceral imagery of war, drugs, and sex - but it got too much for me at times. Just not what I like to read, but very good writing. I wish it was shorter - the beginning was very impactful and I wanted to recommend it to everyone but by the point I had about 3 hours left of the audiobook I was ready to be done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and War

jefferz's review against another edition

emotional inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Homophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Death and Racial slurs

yleavy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Car accident, and War

Moderate: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Abandonment

Minor: Vomit

theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book was difficult for me to get into and I felt dumb quite a few times for not being able to follow the writing style. I didn’t always understand what was happening, when, where, and with whom. I wonder if reading the physical copy would have been better for my brain. 

Little Dog’s narration jumps around through the years and generations of his family, sharing the hardships of their survival. Parts of the story are upsetting. Even though I am an emotional person I did not shed a single tear while listening to this book. Probably because I didn’t get into the story or characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sabrinaleaf's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

3.5 ⭐️ 

Gorgeous writing, but as with most literary fiction, it took me a while to get into

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and War

oneiricgarden's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

CHANGED MY LIFE 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Car accident, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

melanija's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, and Grief

Minor: Cancer and Sexual content

eleos01's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Excrement, Cannibalism, and War

emrosch's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Hauntingly beautiful & raw with emotion.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and War

idk_indigo's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I wanted to like this book, I really did. And some of it was incredible! I loved the unique formatting, a son's letter to his mother brought a very emotional approach to the writing, and also a perspective that is so interesting. Letters are very intimate, and that is definitely how the book presents, in emotion but also in what the letter-writer is choosing to share (especially with a mother). I also really loved the formatting, almost like a poem but in prose, and you can tell when you're reading that the author is skilled in poetry. So yes, I definitely think this book is all that people say it is: deep, emotional, tragic, and beautiful. 

That being said, I don't really think this is for me... it honestly felt a bit like trauma porn at times, which is probably an unfair thing of me to say because I understand that an entire facet of poetry is making tragedy beautiful (/s), but I found myself almost wanting to roll my eyes at times. Idk. Also, I know this is coming from the perspective of written correspondence, and that definitely changes how a person talks about themselves/their experiences/reality, but I genuinely just got very sick of the main character, Little Dog. And towards the end, the poetry-as-prose format got very old for me. There's not anything specifically wrong with it, per se, I just didn't like it. I think maybe it would've held up better if it was shorter, but I'm almost like there's a reason why poems are short. 

I may read something else from the author, maybe some of his poetry, because the content of this book was super interesting to me. I think I would have liked this better had I been in a different mood, but I am not, so... 2 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Racism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and War